Gun sight reticle having open sighting areas for bullet drop compensation

ABSTRACT

A gun sight reticle includes a center horizontal hairline having a central discontinuity and a center sighting area located at the central discontinuity and circumscribed by indicia that encloses the center sighting area, the center sighting area located at a center of the gun sight reticle. The reticle also can include a center vertical hairline that is intersected by the center sighting area such that the center sighting area is located in a discontinuity of the center vertical hairline. The reticle also can include one or more drop-compensation sighting areas disposed below the center sighting area in one or more further discontinuities of the center vertical hairline, the one or more drop-compensation sighting areas being circumscribed by indicia that enclose the sighting area. Preferably, a diameter of the center sighting area is larger than a diameter of the one or more drop-compensation sighting areas.

This non-provisional application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/193,952, filed Jan. 12, 2009, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

1. Field of Invention

The invention relates to gun sight reticles, and in particular to gun sight reticles that provide for bullet drop compensation.

2. Description of Related Art

It is common to use a gun sight, in particular, a telescopic gun sight (also called a “scope”), for longer-range guns such as rifles and for shorter-range guns such as muzzle-loaders and shotguns. With either type of gun, the projectile follows a generally parabolic trajectory. The particular trajectory depends upon both the gun and the projectile. An experienced shooter knows that one must consider the projectile trajectory and distance to target when aiming at the target. Depending upon the distance to the target, one might need to aim over the target so that the projectile strikes the target where intended.

In order to assist shooters, it is known to provide gun sights having aiming points in addition to the central aiming point formed by a center horizontal hairline and a center vertical hairline that forms an aiming point at the center of a reticle. These conventional reticles, known as bullet drop compensation reticles, typically have a plurality of aiming points formed by a plurality of intersecting hairlines located at predetermined distances below the central aiming point. These bullet drop compensation reticles provide additional horizontal hairlines at specified distances below the center horizontal hairline so as to form the additional aiming points where those additional horizontal hairlines intersect the center vertical hairline. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,920,995 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,591,537. The disclosures of U.S. Pat. No. 5,920,995 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,591,537 are hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.

It also is known to provide a bullet drop compensation reticle having bullet drop compensation sighting areas (the sighting areas located below the central aiming point) that are open (for example, open circles) so that the target being aimed at is not obstructed by the intersecting hairlines. See U.S. Pat. No. 7,171,775 for such a gun sight reticle having open sighting areas for bullet drop compensation. The entire disclosure of U.S. Pat. No. 7,171,775 is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

SUMMARY

The central aiming point typically is used for targeting closer-range targets, which appear relatively large in the gun scope and thus are not obscured by the crosshair formed by the intersection of the center horizontal and vertical hairlines. However, when the target is relatively small, such as a coyote, fox, prairie dog, ground hog, gopher, bob cat, etc., the crosshair at the center aiming point can obscure the target. Thus, it is desirable to provide an open sighting area as the center sighting area of the reticle. Additionally, it is desirable to make the bullet drop compensation sighting areas progressively smaller as the sighting areas are farther displaced from the center sighting area because the sighting areas disposed farther from the center sighting area typically are used with more distant targets which will appear smaller in the gun scope. Thus, more distant targets will be framed by the bullet drop compensation sighting areas that are located farther from the center aiming area.

Accordingly, one aspect of the invention relates to a gun sight reticle having a center horizontal hairline that, in turn, has a center sighting area located at a central discontinuity of the center horizontal hairline. The center sighting area is circumscribed by indicia that encloses the center sighting area, and the center sighting area is located at a center of the gun sight reticle. In addition, a center vertical hairline can be provided and is intersected by the center sighting area such that the center sighting area is located in a discontinuity of the center vertical hairline.

According to some embodiments, at least one drop-compensation sighting area is disposed below the center sighting area in a further discontinuity of the center vertical hairline. The at least one drop-compensation sighting area is circumscribed by indicia that encloses the sighting area. Preferably, a diameter of the center sighting area is larger that a diameter of the at least one drop-compensation sighting area.

According to another aspect of the invention, a gun sight reticle includes a plurality of sighting areas arranged in a vertical line, with each of the sighting areas being circumscribed by indicia that encloses the sighting area, and with the sighting areas being progressively smaller in diameter from an uppermost one of the sighting areas to a lowermost one of the sighting areas (that is, the uppermost sighting area is largest, while the lowermost sighting area is smallest). According to some embodiments, the uppermost sighting area is the center sighting area located in the center of the gun sight reticle. According to some embodiments, there are three sighting areas.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention will be described in conjunction with the following drawings of exemplary embodiments in which like reference numerals designate like elements, and in which:

FIG. 1 is a side view of a telescopic sight to which embodiments of the invention may be applied;

FIG. 2 is a schematic illustration of internal components of a variable power telescopic sight shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a gun sight reticle according to one exemplary embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 4 is a plan view of the FIG. 3 gun sight reticle; and

FIG. 5 is a partial plan view of a gun sight reticle according to some embodiments of the invention, and that is used for describing exemplary dimensions of the components of that gun sight reticle.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

Telescopic gun sights (or scopes) generally include a transparent flat disk reticle positioned in a plane perpendicular to the line of sight through the scope. The reticles usually have a center vertical hairline and a center horizontal hairline that intersect each other near the visual center of the reticle. The point of intersection of these hairlines constitutes the primary sighting (aiming) point for the scope and represents the sight of bullet impact at a chosen distance typically referred to as the “zero distance.” The gun sight is movably attached to the gun and can be moved in vertical and horizontal directions by way of calibrated adjustment screws on the exterior of the gun sight (internal adjustments), or on the scope attachment system (external adjustments).

By firing a series of shots while making compensatory adjustments of the relative position of the gun sight and thus the reticle center aiming point, the shooting system (the gun, particular type of bullet and gun sight) are “zeroed in” so that the position on the target of the crossed hairlines or center point of the reticle coincides with the point of bullet impact. For a longer-range gun such as a high powered rifle, the gun may be zeroed in at 200 yards such that a bullet fired by the rifle will strike the target when the center aiming point of the reticle is placed over that target during aiming. For a shorter-range gun such as a muzzle loader or a shotgun, the zeroed in range may be 100 yards.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a telescopic gun sight 10 to which the invention may be applied is shown attached by a suitable mount 35 to a rifle 12. The gun sight 10 is formed by a tubular housing 11 containing a forwardly positioned objective lens element 13, a rearwardly positioned ocular or eyepiece lens element 14, an intervening erector lens element 15, and a reticle 40 disposed between the objective lens element 13 and the erector lens element 15. In the case of a vari-focal or zoom scope, a positionally adjustable magnifying lens 17 is associated with the erector lens element 15. The exterior of the housing 11 may be equipped with rotationally movable features 36 for adjusting focus, magnification ratio, windage and elevation. The various lens elements may be single lenses or lens groups.

The reticle 40 is a circular, planar or flat transparent panel or disk mounted within the housing 11 in perpendicular relationship to the optical axis or line of sight 18 of the scope. The reticle 40 is positioned between the objective lens element 13 and the erector lens element 15 at a sight considered to be a front focal plane of the optical system within the housing. The reticle 40 contains fine lines or hairline indicia to be described below.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the reticle 40 includes a center horizontal straight hairline 44/46 and a center vertical straight hairline 42/48 that each have a central discontinuity where they intersect a central aiming point or sighting area 50. The discontinuous lower portion 48 of the center vertical hairline (located below the center horizontal hairline 44/46) includes drop-compensation sighting areas 54 and 58 at the discontinuities of hairline 48. In the example of FIGS. 3 and 4, the lower portion 48 of the center vertical hairline includes two discontinuities. Each of these discontinuities forms a sighting area 54, 58 to be used for bullet drop compensation. Each of the discontinuities is circumscribed by indicia (a hairline) that surrounds the sighting area. In particular, sighting area 54 is located below and closest to the central (“zeroed in”) sighting area 50. Sighting area 58 is the lowermost sighting area and is located below the sighting area 54. The distances between each of the bullet drop compensation sighting areas 54, 58 and the central sighting area 50 are chosen based upon the type of gun and scope with which the reticle is to be used, as will be described in more detail below. For example, the spacing between each of the sighting areas will differ for a reticle to be used with a muzzle-loader or shotgun compared to a reticle to be used with a long-range rifle.

A single bullet drop compensation area (e.g., 54) could be provided. Alternatively, more than two bullet drop compensation areas can be provided. In addition, windage compensation lines can be provided for some or all of the sighting areas.

The center horizontal hairline 44/46 includes enlarged posts 45 on each of its ends. The center vertical hairline 42/48 similarly includes posts 45 on each end. The radially-inner ends of the wide posts 45 on hairlines 42, 44 and 46 are disposed on a circular locus around the central sighting area 50, and are used to compensate for a moving target, as is known in the art. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,591,537. Thus, the innermost end of the posts 45 on hairlines 42, 44 and 46 are located a predetermined distance from the central sighting area 50.

The indicia surrounding the sighting areas 50, 54, and 58 does not need to be circular. Other shapes, such as square, diamond, triangle and oval are possible.

The various dimensions and spaced relationships of the indicia on the reticle 40 are expressed as inches of subtension at 100 yards, rather than the actual engraved dimensions on the reticle substrate itself. For example, referring to FIG. 5, each of the posts 45 has a width of dimension a. For a longer-range scope intended for use, for example, with a high-powered rifle, the post 45 would have a dimension a such that when the scope was adjusted to its highest power, the dimension a (the width of the posts 45) would cover one inch of a target located 100 yards from the scope. The dimension a preferably would differ for a reticle that is to be used with a shorter-range gun such as a muzzle-loader or shotgun, because the gun (and thus the scope) would not be used for targeting objects as distant as might be targeted with a high-powered rifle. Thus, for example, the dimension a in a muzzle-loader/shotgun reticle could be two inches at a subtension of 100 yards. That is, the dimension a (the width of the posts 45) would cover two inches of a target located 100 yards from the scope when the scope is adjusted to its highest magnification.

FIG. 5 illustrates the various dimensions a-j for the components of one exemplary reticle having the arrangement of the embodiment shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. Table 1 provides exemplary dimensions for a rifle reticle. The dimensions in Table 1 are in inches.

TABLE 1 Dimensions for Rifle Reticle Parameter Description Dimension a Thickness of post 45 1 b Thickness of lines 0.25 c Distance between center horizontal hairline 44/46 4 and end of post 45 on hairline 42 d Distance between center vertical hairline 42/48 4 and end of posts 45 on hairlines 44 and 46 e Outer diameter of sighting area 50 3 f Outer diameter of sighting area 54 2 g Outer diameter of sighting area 58 1 h Distance between center horizontal hairline 44/46 3 and center of sighting area 54 i Distance between center horizontal hairline 44/46 5.5 and center of sighting area 58 j Distance between center horizontal hairline 44/46 8 and end of post 45 on hairline 48

With respect to the rifle reticle of Table 1, the distance at which the central sighting area 50 is zeroed-in, and the distances at which the bullet drop compensation sighting areas 54 and 58 would be used, depends on the muzzle velocity of the particular gun and the bullet weight. For one example in which the rifle has a higher muzzle velocity, the central sighting area 50 is zeroed-in at 200 yards, and the bullet drop compensation aiming (sighting) areas would be used for targets located at the following distances: (1) sighting area 54—350 yards; (2) sighting area 58—450 yards. For a second example in which the rifle has a lower muzzle velocity, the central sighting area 50 is zeroed-in at 100 yards, and the bullet drop compensation aiming (sighting) areas would be used for targets located at the following distances: (1) sighting area 54—300 yards; (2) sighting area 58—400 yards. The values and the dimensions in Table 1 are merely examples, the actual values and dimensions will differ depending on the factors mentioned previously (for example, the gun, scope and type of projectile). However, the dimensions provided in Table 1 will be suitable for most rifles.

Providing an open sighting area, such as area 50, as the center aiming point is advantageous when the target is relatively small, such as a coyote, fox, prairie dog, ground hog, gopher, bob cat, etc., because it enables the shooter to view the target without any obscuration even when the target is relatively close to the shooter. It is much easier to aim and shoot at a moving target that is bracketed by an open sighting area, such as any of areas 50, 54 and 58, than it is to target the same object using a crosshair. In addition, the edges of the circle forming the sighting area can provide a lead when targeting a moving target. Additionally, making the open bullet drop compensation sighting areas progressively smaller as the sighting areas are farther displaced from the center sighting area is advantageous because the sighting areas disposed farther from the center sighting area typically are used with targets that are located more distant from the shooter (and therefore are smaller in the scope), and thus more distant targets will be framed by the bullet drop compensation sighting areas located farther from the center sighting area without obscuring the target.

While the invention has been described with reference to preferred embodiments thereof, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to these embodiments or constructions. The invention is intended to cover various modifications and arrangements. While the various elements of the exemplary embodiments are shown in various combinations and configurations, other combinations and configurations, including more, less or only a single element, also are within the spirit and scope of the invention. 

1. A gun sight reticle comprising: a plurality of sighting areas arranged in a vertical line, each of the sighting areas being circumscribed by indicia that encloses the sighting area, each of the sighting areas having no indicia within an area circumscribed by the indicia that encloses the sighting area so as to be open sighting areas, each of the sighting areas having a distinct diameter that is different from the diameters of the other sighting areas, the sighting areas being arranged so that the sighting areas decrease in diameter from an uppermost one of the sighting areas to a lowermost one of the sighting areas.
 2. The gun sight reticle of claim 1, wherein there are three of the sighting areas.
 3. The gun sight reticle of claim 1, wherein the uppermost one of the sighting areas is disposed at a center of the gun sight reticle.
 4. The gun sight reticle of claim 3, further comprising a horizontal hairline having a discontinuity where the horizontal hairline is not present, the horizontal hairline intersecting the uppermost one of the sighting areas at the discontinuity of the horizontal hairline such that the horizontal hairline is not present within the uppermost one of the sighting areas.
 5. The gun sight reticle of claim 1, further comprising a horizontal hairline having a discontinuity where the horizontal hairline is not present, the horizontal hairline intersecting the uppermost one of the sighting areas at the discontinuity of the horizontal hairline such that the horizontal hairline is not present within the uppermost one of the sighting areas.
 6. The gun sight reticle of claim 1, wherein the diameter of the uppermost sighting area is about 3 inches of subtension at 100 yards.
 7. The gun sight reticle of claim 6, wherein the diameter of the lowermost sighting area is about 1 inch of subtension at 100 yards.
 8. The gun sight reticle of claim 1, wherein the diameter of the lowermost sighting area is about 1 inch of subtension at 100 yards.
 9. The gun sight reticle of claim 1, wherein: there are three of the sighting areas, such that a middle sighting area is disposed between the uppermost and lowermost sighting areas, the diameter of the uppermost sighting area is about 3 inches of subtension at 100 yards, the diameter of the middle sighting area is about 2 inches of subtension at 100 yards, and the diameter of the lowermost sighting area is about 1 inch of subtension at 100 yards.
 10. The gun sight reticle of claim 1, wherein the sighting areas are circular, and the indicia for each of the sighting areas forms a circle.
 11. A telescopic gun sight comprising: a housing; an objective lens disposed near a first end of the housing; an ocular lens disposed near a second end of the housing; and the gun sight reticle of claim 1 located within the housing between the objective lens and the ocular lens.
 12. A gun sight reticle comprising: a center horizontal hairline having a central discontinuity where the hairline is not present, a center sighting area located at the central discontinuity and circumscribed by indicia that encloses the center sighting area, the center horizontal hairline is not present within the center sighting area, the center sighting area located at a center of the gun sight reticle, and a center vertical hairline having a discontinuity where the center vertical hairline is not present, the center vertical hairline being intersected by the center sighting area such that the center sighting area is located in the discontinuity of the center vertical hairline, and the center vertical hairline is not present within the center sighting area.
 13. The gun sight reticle of claim 12, further comprising: at least one drop-compensation sighting area disposed below the center sighting area in a further discontinuity of the center vertical hairline, the at least one drop-compensation sighting area being circumscribed by indicia that encloses the at least one drop-compensation sighting area, the center vertical hairline not being present in the further discontinuity and not being present within the at least one drop-compensation sighting area.
 14. The gun sight reticle of claim 13, wherein a diameter of the center sighting area is larger than a diameter of the at least one drop-compensation sighting area.
 15. The gun sight reticle of claim 12, further comprising: a plurality of drop-compensation sighting areas disposed in a vertical line below the center sighting area in further discontinuities of the center vertical hairline, each of the plurality of drop-compensation sighting areas being circumscribed by indicia that encloses the drop-compensation sighting areas, the center vertical hairline not being present in the further discontinuities and not being present within the drop-compensation sighting areas.
 16. The gun sight reticle of claim 15, wherein a diameter of the center sighting area is larger than diameters of each of the plurality of drop-compensation sighting areas, and each of the plurality of drop-compensation sighting areas has a distinct diameter that is different from the diameters of the other drop-compensation sighting areas, the sighting areas being arranged so that the sighting areas decrease in diameter from the center sighting area to a lowermost one of the drop-compensation sighting areas.
 17. The gun sight reticle of claim 16, wherein there are two of the drop-compensation sighting areas.
 18. The gun sight reticle of claim 17, wherein: the diameter of the center sighting area is about 3 inches of subtension at 100 yards, the diameter of an uppermost one of the drop-compensation sighting areas is about 2 inches of subtension at 100 yards, and the diameter of the lowermost one of the drop-compensation sighting areas is about 1 inch of subtension at 100 yards.
 19. The gun sight reticle of claim 18, wherein the sighting areas are circular, and the indicia for each of the sighting areas forms a circle.
 20. The gun sight reticle of claim 12, wherein the diameter of the center sighting area is about 3 inches of subtension at 100 yards.
 21. A telescopic gun sight comprising: a housing; an objective lens disposed near a first end of the housing; an ocular lens disposed near a second end of the housing; and the gun sight reticle of claim 12 located within the housing between the objective lens and the ocular lens. 